Buying Advice Box blade or rear blade?

[Bullwinkle123]

I've been all over this forum trying to figure out which I need. Seems like people are about 45% in favor of box blade, 35% in favor of rear blade, and 20% in favor of some kind of rake (which, alone, I'm pretty sure will be useless for me, and I don't want to buy more than one 3ph implement for the time being).

I need to improve and care for the driveway in this photo album, if tractorbynet will let me post the link: Driveway Mar 09 2020 - Google Photos

It's more than 1/4 mile long, has some parts that have been professionally done, but always is degrading with time. Anyway, if you can take a look at the photos (and captions!) it'll give a clearer view of what I need to do.

I'm buying a new tractor _probably_ a Kubota MX5400, and have been pricing a 7' rear blade so far. I'm sure either can be used for the driveway. I'm not planning on any top-n-tilt hydraulics for now, mostly because I'm buying far more than I planned and need to draw the line somewhere. I'll have a loader/bucket, and am ready to order all the gravel I need.

Location is Vermont. Lots of mud, snow, mud, rocks, and mud, depending on the season. I'll be working to maintain a good crown and keep the drainage ditches clear. Otherwise I'm just one severe rain away from a washout.

Seeking your advice, and thanks in advance.

 

[Granthol]

A land plane would be best for pure driveway maintenance. Now if you want to use it for anything else you are back to one of the blades. I personally use a regular blade. A blade turned backwards does a good job of leveling and filling vs cutting.

 

[dusty3030]

A land plane grading scraper (LPGS for short) is really, really good for maintaining a gravel road / drive. A good heavy one with scarifiers/ rippers is the easiest implement to use to maintain a road. Most of the time you don't need the scarifiers down, but sometimes you need to break it up to repair big potholes and they certainly come in handy. A good 6' one will run you $1,000 to $1,400 give or take.

 

[MF243RedTop]

I would suggest something like this for rolling dirt, crowning and keeping ditches pulled..
Product Details


Product Details

I'll post a pic of my custom job..

 

[Thomas]

Ditching and snow removal I would lean towards blade.
Townline Equipment Plainfield,NH. having open house April 15th 10-4pm might offer a discount,also free eats. :licking:

 

[NC419N]

I would go with a good heavy scrape blade to start with then later a box blade

 

[CobyRupert]

(IMHO) Most driveways needs ditches to exist and not wash out (or become the water path "ditch"). I would hold this as priority #1. As such, a good heavy blade, that tilts is best for maintaining ditches in my opinion. Also good for snow removal as mentioned above.

Once you have a road that doesn't wash away, keeping it smooth and the potholes filled may be best done with a box blade or land plane. I don't have experience with these. I think crowning and "angling" a pitch can be done with these; just like smoothing can be done with a blade. But maybe not as easily as the other could do it. That is (IMHO), each has things they're better at, and not so good at, but still can do.

I've opted for a heavy 6-way (angle/tilt, rotate, offset)(or is that 3-way?) blade to do ditches and snow moving, then opted for a cheap TSC County Line rake to do the light pothole/ smoothing work.

 

[CobyRupert]

Those picture where the tire track is becoming the "ditch". Yikes! I agree, That can go bad quickly when a rainstorm triggers snow melt and a lot of rushing water. Some of those pictures look like you have some boulders, or shale rock lurking below.
Looks like you can bring material out of ditches as you crown, but a load or two of stone, from time to time, year to year, may help, or cover those lurking rocks. ...but they won't go away.

Snow banks can keep water getting into ditches. Not sure what the answer is other than "winging" (plowing) it back farther, or snow blowing.

Get ready for mud season! That'll test town roads in VT too!

p.s. It's good to take pictures and notes now of how the water sits, flows, or puddles, and what needs to be done. It'll be harder to see and remember when it's dry and there's no water to keep you honest when moving dirt.

 

[oosik]

My driveway looks a whole lot like yours except it's a mile long. I also have one 120 foot section that is a " mud bog from H*ll". I have a very HD rear blade - heavy duty ROBB - big, heavy LPGS.

A whole lot of my driveway includes very large rocks. The LPGS is worthless in these sections. Actually - none of the three implements will do much GOOD in these heavy rock sections. Thirty nine years and the heavy rock sections are holding up just great.

On the muddy section - wait until it's just damp - trowel it smooth with my heavy rear blade - reversed.

I use the ROBB to scarify( it has scarifier shanks ) and repair - potholes & riffles, etc.

For my situation the LPGS has been a waste of money. They do best on a driveway with little large rock and a whole lot of finer crushed gravel, sand, etc.

If I had to choose one implement - my Rhino 950 @ 1050# and 96" wide. It clears snow - if we ever get enough to worry about. It will maintain the driveway ditches. Will move dirt for repair work - but not as well as the ROBB.

My driveway surface is a combination of large rock, gravel, sand, dust & volcanic ash. When it dries out, in the summer, it becomes concrete.

Summer repairs require the shanks on the ROBB - material relocation with the ROBB - final grading & smoothing with the rear blade.

The rear blade has the longest learning curve - then the ROBB - anybody can drag a LPGS and have good results. Good results with the LPGS are primarily determined by the surface material on the driveway. Heavy rock - forget the LPGS. Nice crushed stone, sand, etc - you can end up with a driveway that you can play a game of pool on. This is my tractor with the Rhino rear blade. I keep the rear blade on the tractor about 95% of the time as counter weight. View attachment 644688

 

[nybirdman]

A rear (heavy) blade will do most of your work;also useful for snow removal.That being said a box blade will do a wonderful job on leveling DRY loose material. A box blade with scarifiers will move a lot of dirt.